acroyear | more on Reid's incompetence

Whither Dawn Johnsen? : Dispatches from the Culture Wars:

Here's something I bet you haven't read about in the media for months: Obama's pick to head the crucial Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen, still hasn't gotten a confirmation vote in the Senate. The Judiciary Committee voted in favor of her confirmation way back in March, voting 11-7 to move her nomination to the full Senate. The Senate just held votes on a whole raft of Obama nominees last week, including Sotomayor, and Johnsen still hasn't gotten a vote.

The problem is not a lack of votes to confirm her. There are easily more than 50 votes in the Senate in her favor. Ben Johnson (D-Neb) says he plans to vote against her, but Richard Luger has endorsed her nomination. Arlen Specter hinted at opposing her before he switched parties. They have 57 votes at a bare minimum. The problem is having 60 votes to invoke cloture.

There apparently is no formal hold on her nomination, but Harry Reid has not held a vote to close the debate and take a vote on her confirmation. A group of legal scholars that ran the gamut from liberal to conservative to libertarian all signed a letter back in April urging her confirmation. Talking Points Memo back in May blamed it all on Reid and I'm inclined to agree.

Reid is a staggeringly incompetent leader in the Senate. If Hillary Clinton was still in the Senate, I would not be surprised if she had managed to stage a coup by now and replaced him.